Wildlife Harvesting

Wildlife harvesting is not a really common global issue. Who knew that this topic was
one of the biggest problems ever faced by our planet right now? This topic sparks
interest in me since I never thought of the dangers that the animals on our planet
are facing right now. In this paper, I discussed the effects of wildlife harvesting
practices and habitat loss, as well as how we can prevent these tragedies from
occurring in the future.

Hunting and trapping is one of the most common issues the world is facing right

now. Overhutting and trapping can affect the enviroment. These practices were

allegedly used for survival purposes since native areas around the world could only

collect enough food to provide for themselves. But as time goes on, these practices

become more and more frequent. This includes poaching and over hunting.

Overhunting is one of the most used practices all around the world. people

sometimes compete agaisnt others to see who can take down the biggest prey.

Sometimes hunting also can be used for other purposes like decorations, designer

bags and clothes, etc. Overhunting can be seen as a way of people exploting natural

resources. If we continue hunting in the same area continuosly, we can be

continuosly killing the animal at a point where they cant repopulate at the rate they

used to be which leads to a host of problems and issues.

This can also happen with Poaching, which can trigger psychological trauma, injury,

depredation, and a slow death. For instance new mexico permits these practices to

happen largely unregulated. The state also doesnt have limits on how many animals

can be killed which is outrageous. This also goes to the state of Montana, which
doesnt have any trap check requirements except in restricted areas . As you can see

this is already a frequent problem where states around the world are permitting

these practices to happen to these innocent animals.

This also becomes a bigger problem if habitat loss is involved. For instance,

Southeast Asias Biodiversity is now a serious threat. There are some parts of the

region that is predicted to lose 98% of their remaining forests in the next 9 years.

Some region’s that is sensitive about biodiveristy is frequently forgotten by the

media. Its now now suprised why Southeast Asia has the highest rates of

deforestation on the planet by having a loss of 14.5|% of the forests in the last 15

years alone.

This problem also goes to Indonesia, where the safety of these animals are not the

same as humans. Wildlife killing in indonesia is an all- time high problem. In fact, a

recent research in the journal Conservation Biology shows that on the island of

Borneo, commercial logging is currently less of a danger to conservation than wildlife

killing. Now such a claim will undoubtedly draw a lot of mockery.

Various initiatives have been taken by the Indonesian government to slow the loss of

wildlife. Indonesia's participation in a number of organizations that care about the

sustainability of wild animals is one of the government's attempts to protect the

existence of wild animals. Another way the goverment is taking action about this

problem is to include laws and regulations to protect the existence of these wild
animals. Anyone that is caught doing hunting, trapping, and/or trading of these

animals will be punished with a big fine.

But there is still a bigger problem, habitat loss. Deforestation has been a big issue

that Indonesia is facing currently. In just 120 years alone, it is estimated that 84% of

indonesia was forested with that number falling to 54% by 2015. But between 1990

and 2015, almost a quarter of indonesia’s forested areas have been destroyed. These

actions caused biodiversity loss, CO2 emissions, and climate change.

In my perspective, these actions are very cruel to these animals. They did nothing

wrong to us yet we decide to torture them by these practices and taking their

habitat and for what? The palm oil industry? It triggers me that some people are

wicked enough to have no sympathy toward animals. Even though they are not as

smart as humans, they still have feelings like us. They give so much to us, so why

cant we return the favor by loving and protecting them?

There are various scenarious if this problem isnt adressed.

#1: increasing amount of natural disasters: With the rate of deforestation increasing

right now, its no suprise that some animals are critically endagered. If we dont solve

this problem, this can lead to natural disasters such as erosions, earthquakes, etc.

#2: animal extinction: even if the goverments all around the world are trying to stop

wildlife harvesting, its hard to monitor every single practice happening since some of

them are selling these animals on the black market.

#3: Biodiversity loss: by taking endangered animals away from their habitat, this can

threathen the earths biodiversity and its ecosystem.

Now even though these scenarious sound frightening, we can still fix these problems

and help these animals.

Some small solutions to help reduce wildlife harvesting:

- stand with organizations to stop wildlife crime

- if you know/notice any illegal wildlife trade, report it

- join in volunteer programs

- avoid buying products that were taken from wildlife

- avoid consuming food/drinks/medicine that contain wild animal

parts/productswhen travelling such as shark fin soup, tiger bone wine, any exotic

meat, eggs havested from the wild, etc

This research really was a opportunity to do. With these solutions, we still can save

these animals and help them thrive. Not only does this benefit them, but this

benefits us too. These animals help make the world habitable and we should return

the favor by taking care of them too.